Obsessed with Scrapbooking

Expressions Vinyl

Lezlye's Ink & Paper

Official Cricut Blog

This week is really flying by. I can't believe it's Thursday already - Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I hope you have a warm and wonderful holiday with the people you love! My week as Guest Designer for Christmas with the Cricut continues. Be sure to check out their amazing blog HERE every day for incredible Christmas ideas and awesome giveaways. They are a supremely talented bunch over there. Also be sure to pop in to Mandy's blog HERE as she is the other Guest Designer this week, and is hitting it out of the park every time!!

One more quick note: Don't miss my blog post directly below this one as I am introducing my brand new Cricut kit "Winter Magic" which uses the Winter Woodland cartridge.

Alrighty, let's get down to business, shall we? I went all out on this layout - maybe even a little overboard. But that's what happens when I get my hands on gorgeous paper. I can't help it!! This paper is by My Mind's Eye from their Wonderful Winter stack. It's glittery and just makes me feel all warm and cozy inside. I pieced together the background strips that go through the middle of the pages, and used lots of dark brown chalk ink all over the place. I also used the Stampin' Up! scallop border punch for the red strips. Btw, if you're going to try out this layout, there are many things you could easily simplify and still get the basic look and feel. You can ignore my ridiculous need to add too much detail.So I used both Winter Woodland and Everyday Paper Dolls on this layout, and I'll tell you the sizes that I used for the cuts. Here we go. From Winter Woodland: The Building is 9 1/4", Trees are 3 3/4" and 4 1/4", "HOME" title is 2", "for the HOLIDAYS" title is 1 1/2", Bird is 1 1/4", Branch1 on left page is 2 1/2", Branch2 on right page is 1 3/4", Poinsettias are 1 3/4", Snowman is 3 1/2", Squirrel is 1 1/2" flipped. Obscenely tiny holly leaves to make wreath are 1/2". Snowflakes are 1 1/4", 1 1/2" and 1 3/4".

From Everyday Paper Dolls: Airplane is 2", Car is 3 1/2", Suitcases are cut at 3 1/2" and 3", Dog is 1 1/4". This cartridge doesn't actually offer layers for the airplane and car - no shadow, no nothing. So what I did is cut the airplane out in several different colors, and cut away the different parts that I wanted in different colors and layered them on top of the light blue base. I also cut the plane in red and off-set that underneath to make it look like a shadow. I used this same basic process for the car, but without the shadow.A few little details: I Cuttlebugged the house with the Tiny Mosaics folder and then lightly inked the texture. The cardstock I used for the base of the house, which is the yellow that shows in the windows is by Core'dinations, and I sanded it down a bit to make more of the yellow show through the whitewash for a soft, glowy look. To create the wreath on the door (I can't believe there's no wreath in the WW cart!), I cut super tiny holly leaves in green and ice blue, inked them and glued them onto a letter "o" (you may need tweezers and a microscope if you want to try this). Then the tiny bow was cut off of the baby's bonnet on the Everyday Paper Dolls cart. Also, I used lots of chipboard and pop-dots here and there because I'm obsessed with dimension. My scrapbook may not close with this layout inside, LOL! The ribbon I used is from Stampin' Up, and I also added lots of Diamond Stickles and white dots. Bling, bling!I sure hope you're enjoying my projects this week. I've really had fun reading over your sweet comments! Thanks for letting me share my work with you!! Be sure to check back tomorrow as I've got a very special card for Fancy Card Friday. My mom is already trying to get me to sell it to her. Yeah, right - nice try, Mom! ;)Happy Holidays!!

Your designs are absolutely beautiful! I added your blog to favs list. I can't wait to see what else you come up with. I would love to see a tutorial of how you decorate your letters on "Home for the Holidays"!!

I literally gasped when i saw these layouts, they're absolutely amazing, what kind of white marker do you use, I have the hardest time finding one that doesn't "disappear" after it's dried for a while, especially on really dark cardstock, I'd really appreciate it, if you could tell me where you find these markers and what the name is, thanks in advance.

WOW! Did I say WOW?! This is just awesome!! I just LOVE all the details! My own scrapbooking is so simple but I'm gonna have to try some of this! OMG! This is just beautiful! Oh, and did I say WOW!!!:)

About Me

Monique Griffith

Rocklin, CA, United States

The Monique Griffith Design Team consists of 4 Cricut Designers: Monique, Wendy Lawrence, Susan Rees and Becca Rees. We specialize in making Cricut Project Kits that you can make on your own with your Cricut, learning more about your bug in the process. You just need your Cricut Expression, the required cartridge(s), and a few basic tools. The directions come with a Cricut Cut Chart that shows you line by line exactly what you'll need to cut on your machine, with all of the settings for each cut. There are also well-organized written instructions and color photographs. We pride ourselves on our detailed designs, and on teaching others how to most effectively design with the Cricut. Currently, we have have downloadable directions on sale for only $5, and there are over 50 projects to choose from.